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Rachel Maddow is the host of The Rachel Maddow Show, a political news and commentary program that airs Mondays through Fridays on the American cable network MSNBC. She is a frequent subject of Pundit RPF and the only female considered part of the fandom's Pundit Round Table.

Maddow is a butch dyke[1] with a partner of more than a decade[2]; however, fanworks featuring Maddow are not exclusively femslash, nor does Maddow femslash focus exclusively on her real life relationship.

History

Before joining MSNBC's prime time schedule, Maddow hosted a radio program on Air America and appeared on a variety of CNN and MSNBC programs. Some of the shows for which Maddow provided analysis and commentary (e.g. Tucker, Countdown with Keith Olbermann) were popular source texts within pundit fandom, and thus Maddow occasionally appears in fan fiction dating back to at least January 2008.[3][4]

The volume of fanworks featuring or including Maddow increased following the August 2008 announcement and September 2008 launch of her television show.

Pairings

Despite the fact Maddow is a lesbian, femslash featuring her follows the perceived trend of femslash rarity. Maddow is most commonly slashed with MSNBC contributor and occasional TRMS guest host Ana Marie Cox; unlike other Maddow pairings, the relationship between Maddow and Cox has its own community. The sexual tension between Maddow and Cox has been noted by blogs outside the typical circle of Pundit RPF fandom,[5][6] and mentioned to Cox herself on Twitter.[7]